An upright, relatively slender shaft or structure, usually of brick or stone, used as a building support or standing alone as a monument

A stiff vertical support, esp. a wooden column in timber framing

The critical point at which a column, carrying its critical buckling load, may either buckle or remain undeflected. The column in therefore in a state of neutral equilibrium.

The critical buckling load for a column divided by the area of its cross section

The sudden lateral or torsional instability of a slender structural member induced by the action of a compressive load. It can occur well before the yield stress of the material is ready.

The axial load at which a column begins to deflect laterally and becomes unstable

The maximum axial load that can theoretically be applied to a column without causing it to buckle

The radial distance from any axis to a point at which the mass of a body could be concentrated without altering the moment of inertia of the body about that axis

The ratio of the effective length of a column to its least radius of gyration

A thick column subject to failure by crushing rather than by buckling

A column having a mode of failure between that of a short column and a long column, often partly inelastic by crushing and partly elastic by buckling

A slender column subject to failure by buckling rather than by crushing

The amount by which an axis deviates from another parallel axis

An additional moment developed in a structural member as its longitudinal axis deviates from the line of action of a compressive force, equal to the product of the load and the member deflection at any point

The proposition that a compressive load should be located within the middle third of a horizontal section of a column or wall to prevent tensile stresses from developing in the section

The distance between inflection points in a column subject to buckling. It determines the column's critical buckling load.

A set of tensile and compressive stresses resulting from the superposition of axial and bending stresses at a cross section of a structural member, acting in the same direction and equal at any point to their algebraic sum

The central area of any horizontal section of a column or wall within which the resultant of all compressive loads must pass if only compressive stresses are to be present in the section. A compressive load applied beyond this area will cause tensile stresses to develop in the section.

A point on either side of the centroidal axis of a horizontal column or wall section defining the limits of the kern area

A coefficient for modifying the actual length of a column according to its end conditions in order to determine its effective length.

The bracing of a column or other compression member to reduce its effective length. It is most effective when the bracing pattern occurs in more than one plane.

The distance between the points at which a structural member is braced against buckling in a direction normal to its length